Windshield wiper blade operating mechanism



1943- P. L. SCHNEIDER ETAL 2,452,496

WINDSHIELD WIPER BLADE OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 26, 1947 Y s Sheets-Sheet 1 1 w [If V I N VEN TORS Oct. 26, 1948. P. L. SCHNEIDER ETAL 2,4525496 WINDSHIELD WIPER BLADE OPERATING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 26, 194'! if I .0 1m

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Oct. 26, 1948. P. L. SCHNEIDER ETAL 2,452,496

WINDSHIELD WIPER BLADE OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 26, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 SWITCH MPER Mme Patented on. 26, 1948 WINDSHIELD WIPER BLADE OPERATING MECHANISM Paul L. Schneider and Derother n. Dudderar, Anderson, Ind., assignors to General Motors Cor,- poration, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application April 26, 1947, Serial No. 744,210

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to windshield wipers for automotive vehicles.

An object of the invention is to provide a power operated unit for actuating wiper blades and having a manual controlled mechanism for causing the blades to travel in a wiping range or for causing the blades to occupy parking positions outside the wiping range. In the disclosed embodiment, this object is accomplished by the use of mechanism which includes a crank pin which is located for the wiping action at a required radius with respect to the axis of its crank shaft when the manual control is in on position and which is located for the parking action at a greater radius from the axis of its crank shaft in response to actuation of the manual control to off or park position whereby the blades move out of the wiping range into parking positions. and by the use of means for stopping movement of the crank pin when the blades have arrived at parking positions. coincidentally with'stopping the crank pin, the power is automatically turned off. Actuation of the manual control from park to on position turns on the power and retracts the stopping means whereby operation of the mechanism is resumed and, thereby, the crank pin is restored automatically to a location of lesser radius with respect to its crank shaft.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in the direction of arrow I of Fig. 2 with a cover plate removed.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line '33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view in the direction of arrow 4 of Fig. 2 of an operating mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-45 of Fig. 5.

Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are views showing an operating mechanism in different positions.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing control of the mechanism electrically and mechanically.

Fig. 12 is a view of a switch in the direction of arrow i2 of Fig.6.

Fig. 13 is a view in the direction of arrow I3 of Fig. 12.

Figs. 14, 15-and 16 are sectional views taken respectively on-lines l4-l4, i5|5 and l6l6 of Fig. 12, Fig. 16 being drawn twice size.

i 17 is a sectional view on line I'i-I1 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 18 is a fragmentary view in the direction of arrow 18 of Fig. 17.

Referring to Fig. 17, an electric motor 20 comprises a field frame 2| carrying pole pieces 22 and field winding 23. Frame 2| is clamped becommutator 34.

tween an end plate 24 and a frame 25 by means bearing 21 in contact with an oil-soaked, felt ring 28 providing a lubricant reservoir from which lubricant is drawn into the bearing by capillary attraction. The bearing 2'l -and the ring 28 are retained by a flanged washer 29 retained by a cap 30 which is retained by a resilient wire snap ring 3|. Shaft 32, carrying an armature 33 and a commutator 34, is iournaled in the bearing 21 and in a bearing 35 carried by frame 25. Shaft 32 is urged left by a spring 3-6 retained by a cover plate 31 attached by screws 38 to frame 25. Spring 35 urges disc 39 against the right end of shaft 32, thereby causing its left end to bear against a disc 40 supported by the cap 30. of lubricant from the interior of frame 25 is prevented by shaft seal 4 I.

Plate 24 supports two brush holders 42 carrying brushes 43 which springs 44 urge against the The upper brush holder, shown in Fig. 18, is insulated and the spring 44, associated therewith, is attached to a terminal stud 45 insulated from the plate 24. The lower brush holder is not insulated from the motor frame and the spring 44, associated with the lower brush holder is attached to a stud 46 mounted on the plate 24, thus providing a good ground connection for the lower brush. Frame 25 is provided with tapped holes 48 which receive screws by which the frame is mounted upon a suitable support.

Shaft 32 is threaded to provide a Worm 53 meshing with a worm gear 5i which is connected with a shaft 52 (Fig. 6) by a bar 53 received by a cross slot in the hub of gear 59, the bar having its central hole provided with flats engaging flats on the shaft 52. The gear 5! is retained by a nut 54 threaded on the shaft 52. Shaft 52 is journ-aled in e. bushing 55 supported by a partition 56 which separates a chamber 57 for gear 5| from a chamber 58 which contains a clutch, one member of which is provided by a circular flange 68 of the shaft 52 and the other of which is provided by a member 6i. The parts and 5! have intereng-aging teeth 52 (Fig. 2). The parts -50 and 6! are maintained in alignment by a rod 83 passing through a central bore in the shaft 52 and through a central hole in the hub of the part 5|. Part 6! has a cylinder 64 provided with three notches 65, each receiving an arm 66 of a disc 61, the center hole of which is provided with flats received by the flats 68 of a shaft 89 (Fig. 5). The arms 56 of disc 61 support a ring 10 parallel to a ring H surrounding the member 6i. Spring 12 is confined under compression between the rings 10 and H and urges the member 6| toward the member 63 to maintain clutch engagement under yielding pressure.

The escape For reasons to be explained, shaft 59 is stopped while shaft 52 continues rotation. When this occursfclutch member BI cannot rotate. Therefore it is cammed by member 80 upwardly in Fig. 2 or toward the left in Fig. 6, by the action of the inclined end faces of the teeth 62, thereby causing the ring H to move in the same direction. This movement of ring 1I causes the opening of switches which control the motor. When the clutch parts separate, ring 1I engages a lever 15 pivotally supported by bracket 18 (Figs. 12 and 15) attached to a non-conducting switch terminal plate 11 which screws 18 (Fig. attach to the fram 25. Lever 15 has a T-end 19 (Fig. 13) received by a notch 80 in a non-conducting member 8| (Fig. 12) Referring to Figs. 12 and 16, the movement of plate 8I by lever 15 eifects the movement of contacts 82 and 83 with respect to contacts 34 and 85 respectively. The contacts 82 are provided by rivets, the shanks of which pass respectively through the ends of spring blades 88 and 81 through the plate 8| and through washers 88 and 89 respectively and are riveted over against these washers. The contacts 84 and 85 are provided by rivets, the shanks of which pass through the non-conducting plate 11 and terminals 90 and BI respectively. The spring blades 85 and 81 are attached to the plate 11 by rivets 92 and 93 respectively which also secure terminals 94 and 95 respectively with which said blades are electrically connected. Rotation of the blades 88 and 81 and of the terminals 94 and 95 with respect to their attaching rivets 92 and 93 is Prevented by connecting together ends of the terminals and ends of the. blades. As shownin Fig. 14, this is accomplished with respect to blade 88 and terminal 94 by an end 94a of the terminal 94 which passes through an oblong hole 94b in plate 11 and which is provided with side notches 940 which receive the forked ends 86a of blade 88. Terminal 95 and blade 81 are connected in the same manner. The terminal ends 34c and 95a are provided with holes 98 to receive the end leads of a resistance unit 91 which is connected between them as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 11.

A manually operated switch comprises a movable contact I00 having a high speed position shown in full lines for connecting the contact IOI with a contact I02. Contact IOI is connected through a fuse I03 with a battery I04 which is grounded. Contact I00 has an intermediate low speed position indicated by dash lines I00 for connecting contacts IOI, I02 and I05, and a park or off position indicated by dot-dash lines I00" for connecting contacts IOI, I06 and I01. Contact I02 is connected with terminal 95, contact I05 with terminal 94, contact I08 with terminal 9|, contact I01 with terminal 90, Contact I00 is operated by a knob IIO attached to a rod III connected with contact I00. At the left end (Fig. 11) a flexible tube II2, which is attached to a ferrule II3a attached to the case of the manually operated switch, is attached also to a ferrule II3 as shown in Fig. 2, supported by the cover I for a housing [28. Ferrule II3 has a rib I I4 received by a recess H5 in cover I55. The rib H4 is retained in the recess I I5 by a plate I I8 attached by a screw I I1 and having a notch I I8 which receives the ferrule I I 3. The flexible rod or wire I I I passes through a small hole in the upper end of a plunger I20 and is attached to a pin I2I within the plunger. Movement of the switch contact I00 into high position causes the pin I2I to push against the plunger and move it upwardly into. the position shown in Fig. 2. Movement of the contact I00 into the park position causes the plunger I20 to move down, motion being transmitted thereto from the pin I2I by a spring I22 whereby the plunger I20 is moved into a certain controlling position while the pin IZI may have a certain amount of over-travel. Movement of plunger I20 may be restricted by trigger I33 if the switch is moved to the park position when the trigger is directly under the pin. Pin I2I then moves compressing spring I22. Spring I22 moves plunger I20 as soon as trigger I39 moves out of the way. In this controlling position, rotation of shaft 53, Fig. 2, is arrested in a manner to be explained.

When contact I00 is in high position, the following circuit is established: battery I04, contact IOI, contact I02, terminal 95, and two circuits in parallel, one being the armature 33 and the other being the resistance 91, terminal 84 and field winding 23. When contact I00 is in low position, the following circuit is established: battery I04, contact IOI, and two circuits in parallel, one being terminal 95 and the armature 33 and the other being contact I05, terminal 94 and field *winding 23. Resistance 91 is by-passed. When contact I00 is moved topark position, the following circuit is established: battery I04, contact IOI, and two circuits in parallel, one being contact I08, terminal 9|, normally closed contacts 83, 05, terminal 95 and the armature 33 and the other being contact I01, a terminal 90, normally closed contacts 82 and 84 and the field winding 23. Movement of contact I00 to park position is immediately followed by the arresting of motion of shaft 89, Fig. 2, which results in separation of the clutch parts 60, 6|, and the separation of contacts 02 and 83 from contacts 84 and 85, respectively, whereupon operation of the motor 20 ceases.

Movement of the contact I00 to the park posisition results in locating the wiper blades in a parking position outside their normal range of movement. The mechanism which provides for oscillation of the blades through a normal range and for stopping the blades in a parking position outside the normal range will now be described, with reference to Figs. 1 through 10. Referring to Fig. 2, shaft 89, which is Journaled in a bearing I21 in a housing I28 attached to frame 28, drives a plate I30 which rotates counterclockwise as shown in Fig. 'l and which carries a lug I3I to be engaged by the plunger I20 when switch I00 is moved into parking position. When the switch is in the other positions. low and high, rotation of the plate I30 is unobstructed. Plate I30 supports a cover plate I32 which is spaced above the plate I30 by washers I33 and by the extruded oflsets I34 of cover I32. Cover I32 and washers I33 are attached to plate I30 by rivets I35. Cover I32 is provided with a notch I38 which receives a roller I 31 journaled on a stud I38 attached to a trigger I39 having an L-shaped opening I40 receiving a pin or stud I, the shanks of which are riveted to both the plate I30 and the cover I32. Normally the notch I40a of the opening I40 receives the pin I, said relation being normally maintained by a spring I42 having a portion I420 bent around one of the washers I33 and having its free end I42b urging the trigger I33 counterclockwise about its pivotal connection with the cover I32 provided by the engagement of the roller I31 with the notch I38. When the trigger I33 is so located, the roller I31 will be located at a minimum radial distance from the axis of rotation of the plates I30 and I32 so that the wiper blades will be actuated through the normal range.

Roller m is received by a slot m in a plate in range, a manually positioned member'ior stopping which is guided between the flanges- I52 of a plate gear segment I" attached to a shaft I50 Jour-' naled in a bearing Ill provided by housing I23 and in a bearing I" provided by cover lil- Bha'it Ill operates a lever iii, the ends of which are connected in any suitable manner with crank arms for oscillating the wiper blades.

When the switch I is in the high or low positlons. the travel of the plate III is that represented by the distance between the full-line position of slot I50 and the dot-dash line position thereof I50. This amount or motion causes the wiper blades to oscillate within their normal range. When it is desired to park the blades, the switch I00 is moved to park position which causes the plunger I20 to move into the plane of rotation of the trigger I30 and of the lug I3I.

Therefore as these parts rotate counterclockwise from the position shown in Fig. 7 to that shown in Fig. 8, the trigger I39 is caused to move into the position shown in Fig. 8 due to the engagement oi. the plunger I20 with the cam surface Illa of the trigger I38. As the trigger so moves, its notch I400 is moved away from the pin Ill so that the latter can be received by the notch portion l40b. Motion of plate I30 is stopped when its lug I3I engages the plunger I20 as shown in Fig. 8. By the time motion of plate I30 has been stopped, the radius of the axis of the roller I3'I' with respect to the axis of the plate I30 has been increased to such extent that the plate Iiil stops with its left end'in the dot-dash line position III. Fig. 1. This extra movement is sumcient to move the wiper blades into a parking position outside their normal range. coincidentally with parking the blades. the electrical circuits between the motor and the battery are interrupted by separation of clutch parts 80 and 0 I.

Movement oi the switch I00 to either the low or high position effects by-passi'ng of the open switch contacts 82. 84 and 83, 85 so that the motor will resume operation and effects retraction of the plunger I20 from the plane of movement of the lug I3I and trigger I39. As plate I30 rotates, the trigger I39 is restored to its normal location with respect to the plate I30. While the plate I30 is moving from the position shown in Fig. 8 toward that shown in Fig. 9, the return movement of the trigger I38 is started. by roller I31 engaging the lower end of the slot I50 (Fig. 9) which is not long enough to pass roller I81 in its extended position. In -this way, the notched portion I40a of slot I40 is brought into position to receive the pin I, which said notch receives again due to the action of spring I42 as it moves from the dot-dash line position I42 to the full-line position I42 in Fig. 10. Thus the normal radius of the roller I31 with respect to the axis of rotation of the plate I30 is restored and reciprocation of the wiper blades takes place within the normal range.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for operating a windshield wiper comprising a motor. an actuator for moving a wiper blade, means for transmitting motion from the motor to the actuator including an adjustable-throw crank having a normal position for efiecting movement of the actuator in a normal range and having a second position ioreifecting movement of the actuator outside the normal rotary movement of the crank, and means cooperating with said member for causing the crank to move to its second position before rotary movement 0! the crank ceases.

2. Apparatus for operating a windshield wiper comprising a motor, an actuator for moving a wiper blade, means for transmitting motion from the motor to the actuator including a torque-limiting clutch and an adjustable-throw crank having a normal position for eflecting movement oi. the actuator in a normal range and having a second position for effecting movement oi the actuator" outside the normal range, a manually positioned member for stopping rotary movement of the crank whereuponthe clutch disengages, means cooperating with said member for causin the crank to move to its second position before rotary movement of the crank ceases, and means responsive to the disengagement of the clutch for causing operation of the motor to cease.

3. Apparatus for operating a windshield wiper comprising a motor, an actuator for moving a wiper blade, means for transmitting motion from the motor to the actuator including a torque-limiting clutch and an adjustable-throw crank having a normal position for effecting movement of the actuator in a normal range and having a second position for effecting movement or the actuator outside the normal range, a manually positioned member for stopping rotary movement of the crank whereupon the clutch disengages, means cooperating with said member for causing the crank to move to its second position before rotary movement of the crank ceases, means responsive to the disengagement of the clutch ior causing operation of the motor to cease, and

' means responsive to retraction of the stop memfor moving a wiper blade, means connecting the driving means to the actuator including an ad justable-throw crank having a normal position for eilecting movement of the actuator in a normal range and. having a second position for effecting movement of the actuator outside the normal range, a. manually positioned member, and means including a cam cooperating with said member to move the crank to its second position.

5. Apparatus for operating a windshield wiper comprising a rotary driving means, an actuator for moving a wiper blade, means connecting the driving means to the actuator including an ad- .iustable-throw crank having a normal position for effecting movement of the actuator in 9. normal range and having a second position for eifect'ing movement of. the actuator outside the normal range, a manually positioned member, means including a cam adapted to engage said member to move the crank to its second position, and means adapted to engage said member to stop rotary movement oi! the crank after the crank reaches its second position.

6. Apparatus for operating a windshield wiper comprising a rotary driving means, an actuator for moving a wiper blade, means connecting the driving means to the actuator including an ad- Justable-throw crank having a normal position for reciprocating the actuator'in a normal range and having a second position tor moving the actuator beyond the normal range, and a manually operable member cooperating with the crank to cause the crank to automatically move to its sec- PAUL L. BER. Number nmonm H. DUDDERAR. 126,052 5 2,376,010 REFERENCES mm 2,393,393

The following references are of reconfirm the file of this patent:

u i STATES Name Date Harrison Apr. 23, 1872 Sacchlnl May 15, 1945 Sacchlnl J an. 15, 1946 

